In the Witch's Lair

So a little while ago, Tim Holtz had a video showing all of the new Ideal-ology goodies for Christmas. You know me, I bleed orange and black, but one thing in particular made me OOL (ooh out loud). The Vignette Box Tops. When I saw the sweet scenes he made out of Vignette Boxes and those tops...my Halloween vein started throbbing!

I ordered them and finally got them Thursday. I was off work yesterday and not feeling well so I created this neat little vignette! Everything used to create this project is Tim Holtz except for the black creepy drape cloth, the glass glitter, and the moss.

It all started with larger Vignette box. I cut a piece of Halloween paper to fit the back and edged it in Black Soot Distress ink.

 I took the largest box top and traced it out onto a piece of Lost and Found paper stash. I wanted to use a Halloween design, but the paper was just a bit too small. Once I had the box top traced, I cut it out and cut out the little window portion as well. I added Black Soot Distress Ink to make the grungy paper even grungier.

 Next, I took this Found Relatives photo. I didn't care about the photo...I cared about the back...

 I love this design! It's a little too light and bright though...

 I used my Ripe Persimmon Distress Marker and colored the entire card. It was still too shiny and bright...

I added Black Soot Distress ink to grunge it up and then glued it onto the background paper.

I wanted my witches to stand out so I made a little pop-up z fold behind them. I cut a rectangle of scrapbook paper and made a fold about 1/2 inch from the end. I glued this to the back of the witches with Glossy Accents.

 I held the dolls in place in the vignette box to see where I'd need to make my other fold. Once I had a general idea, I folded the paper the opposite direction to make a z and trimmed it up.

 I glued this part to the box and let the witches dry.

 Next, I added some moss around them to hold them in place better and to ground them to the piece more.

I added a line of Glossy Accents all around the window of the my box top and added some yummy chunky vintage glass glitter.

With the glitter dry, I spread a thin layer of Distress Collage Medium to the facing surface of the box top. I added a layer of black creepy drape fabric and let it dry. Once dry, I trimmed the fabric. I left a nice fringe over the window opening. I wanted to make the vignette grungier, so I tore the side flaps of the box and inked them in Black Soot.

I fitted the box top over the box and worked out the position of the adorable little lantern light. Since the plug for the light is so wide, I had to figure out where the cut some holes in the box.

 I ended up using my rotary tool drill bit to make holes into the wood. There were a few 'uh-oh' moments but thankfully, the lantern and the box top cover up my mistakes! I glued the box top onto the vignette box, but the front of the box was just too plain for me. While it dried, I rummaged through my stash of goodies.

 I grabbed my metal skulls and crossbones, a Nature Adornment piece, a Halloween token, and two wands and coated them with Pitch Black Adirondack alcohol ink. I put them into a plastic paint cup and worked the alcohol ink around with cotton swabs. They dried with a deep red cast to them and I used Picket Fence Distress crayon to make the letters really stand out. Some of the reddish tint came off onto the crayon and I kind of like that it isn't so stark of a contrast.

All in all, I am very pleased with how this project turned out! I have more box tops and boxes in smaller sizes that are just begging to be creeped-up!

I think I will order the crossbones and add them to the moss just to add more detail to the scene.